The United States Postal Service (USPS) is currently advocating the implementation of a new Information-Based Indicia Program (IBIP) in connection with the printing of postage indicium by postage metering systems. Under this new program, each postage indicium that is printed will include cryptographically secured information in a barcode format together with human readable information such as the postage amount and the date of submission to the post office. The cryptographically secured information is generated using public key cryptography and allows a verification authority, such as the post office, to verify the authenticity of the printed postage indicium based on the information printed in the indicium and the printed destination address.
In connection with the introduction of the cryptographically secure postage metering systems, the USPS is requiring that a remote inspection of these systems be implemented to verify 1) the location of the metering system, 2) the integrity of the cryptographically secured indicium, and 3) the integrity of the ascending and descending accounting register values. In at least one scenario, the USPS has suggested that in order to verify the location of the postage metering system the use of an indicium card is acceptable. The indicium card is sent by either the USPS or the metering system manufacturer (sender) to the registered address of the postage metering system. Upon receipt of the indicium card, the registered user of the metering system prints a zero dollar value indicia and returns the indicium card to the sender. The sender can then perform the standard cryptographic verification of the indicium to verify that it was printed by the appropriate metering system. If the verification is successfully completed, the sender assumes that the metering system is physically located at the address to which the inspection card was sent. The problem with this system is that a duplicate indicium card can be created and a valid indicium printed thereon even if the metering system is not located at its registered location. Moreover, the return of the indicium card is a manual process that is inefficient and prone to human error.
Thus, what is needed is a more secure method of verifying the location of a postage metering system. Additionally, it would be desirable that the more secure method be more fully automated than the system described above.